Tieflings
Tieflings are a race spread across the Big Stretch, infamous for having a lineage traced back to devils blood. Notorious for their fiendish heritage, Tieflings in Halintar are widely stereotyped as cunning, malicious, and scheming. Two subraces of tiefling, Hellriders and Ashstalkers, can trace the origin of their bloodlines to events in the continent's ancient history. Physical Features The wonderful thing about Tieflings is that there is endless variation in their appearance. The only consistent features are the horns on their heads, long and devilish tails, and sclera that matches the color of their irises. They tend to be shorter than humans, and on occasion take on more devilish features such as cloven hooves, carapace-coated limbs, or otherwise mild animalistic traits. There are two different variations of Tieflings whose bloodlines originate from Halintar- the Hellriders, and the Ashstalkers. Hellriders Hellriders have vibrant red skin and amber eyes, with digitigrade legs and goat-like cloven feet. Their hair tends towards the darker side, black to violet or indigo in hue that begins to "gray" into a lighter, less saturated shade around 30-40 years of age. Their horns tend to be straighter, reaching directly horizontally or vertically with little to no curvature. Tails are usually slender and spade- or shovel-tipped. More feminine-figured Hellriders often have smaller horns and fluffier, stronger legs. The defining characteristic of a Hellrider, aside from their standard physical form, is their ability to burst into flames for a short period of time. These flames, which can be deterred from destroying the clothes and possessions of the Hellrider through a magical force, always seem to match the color of their eyes and hair. Unlike actual fires, the flames of a Hellrider seem to get even hotter with age. Ashstalkers Ashstalkers, opposing their brightly colored cousins, come in pallid shades of gray, sometimes even semi-transparent in rare cases (similar to albinism). They do not have animalistic features, being much closer to humans in the shape of their bodies aside from blackened nails. Their eye and hair color is often either black or white, though occasionally one may have deep maroon eyes. Horns are ram-like, coiling close to the cheeks and extending out further horizontally as they age. The tail of an Ashstalker can vary, but always tend to be wide at the base before growing slender down til the tip- often looking similar to either a kangaroo or a fat-tailed gecko's tail. When transforming into the smoke form that they're known for, they become a translucent cloud of smoke that matches the shade of their skin. The faster they travel in this form, the more difficult they are to see- but they're also more prone to exhaustion, or otherwise being harmed by powerful winds, from nature or magical attacks. Culture As the origin of fiendish blood in one's lineage can vary greatly, there isn't as much of a collective history or culture for Tieflings as a whole across the Big Stretch. However, the Ashstalkers and Hellriders of Halintar do have a rumored common root to their existence in a fairy tail of a story from ancient history. In ages past, a scorned and nameless tribe of humans called forth an ancient demon, a creature infamous for killing gods, whose name has long been lost to the sands of time. This twin-headed beast had two distinct sides- one representing the fires of hell, and the other representing the ashes left by death. With the aid of this demon the tribe hoped to destroy the Dragon-Gods and bring chaos to the continent... but with the combined powers of Ester Pyx, Karomatzu, and Tephra, the gods nearest to the summoning site, the creature was swiftly felled. In the fallout of the demon's death it expelled a powerful, accursed energy onto the humans who had failed to utilize its power. Those on the side of flames turned into Hellriders, and the side of death turned to Ashstalkers. However, despite their attempt at deicide and the threat of them attempting the summon a second time, Tephra chose to allow them to continue living within her domain. Their rebellion quelled in the most bloodless way possible, these humans born-again as Tieflings chose instead to continue with their lives. Though there are no recorded instances of this historical event aside from the memories of the gods themselves, rare and ancient texts do source catastrophic events happening in the southern regions of Halintar around the estimated time period. Additionally, the fact that the largest Tiefling populations tend to be in the south contribute to this mythos. Due to the "sinful" origins of their kind, many populations unsocialized or unfamiliar with Tieflings may stereotype them to be evil or scheming. This stigma, alongside their fiend-fueled intelligence and sharp wits, often pushes more northern Tieflings to turn to crueler professions such as thievery. Playing a Tiefling Tieflings often enjoy the darker aspects of the world, but your lineage doesn’t necessarily keep you from being good. You merely seek to live in a world that has often told you you shouldn’t exist, and because of that many of you do turn to cruelty. Ability Score Increase. Tieflings are known for their cunning minds and silver tongues. Your Intelligence is raised by 1, and your Charisma increased by 2 Age. Tieflings age a bit faster due to their blood curse, living up to about 80 years of age at most. Alignment. Many Tieflings are twisted by the influence of their bloodline and the society that spurns them, putting most of them in the Neutral or Evil corners of the alignment chart. Size. Tieflings are slightly shorter than humans on average. You are size Medium. Speed. Your walking speed is 30 ft. Darkvision. Thanks to your infernal heritage, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. Hellish Resistance. You have resistance to fire damage. Infernal Legacy. You know the Thaumaturgy cantrip. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the Hellish Rebuke spell once per day as a 2nd-level spell. And finally, once you reach 5th level you can also cast the Darkness spell once per day. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells. Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Infernal. Hellriders Flaming Fury. The power of your infernal blood is strong. Once per day, you can magically set your body aflame for a number of of turns equal to your level plus your Constitution modifier. During this period, you are immune to fire damage and any non-spell attacks you make may deal fire damage instead of their default damage type. For example: a club, which deals 1d4 bludgeoning damage, may deal 1d4 fire damage instead of bludgeoning. While on fire, any object or creature that makes direct physical contact with you can catch the embers and also light on fire. You can control what you wish to be set aflame directly, but once the fire is passed on to another location you have no control over how the flames are passed on from there. Creatures you attempt to touch to set aflame must make a Dexterity saving throw to avoid being set ablaze, with a DC equal to 8 + your Proficiency Bonus + your Constitution Modifier. Ashstalker Smoke Form. Your body can dissipate into a cloud of ashen smoke, enabling swift movement and quick escapes. As a bonus action, you can transform your physical form into that of a cloud of smoke til the start of your next turn. You have a number of charges for this ability equivalent to half your level rounded up, which refresh fully after a long rest. When in smoke form, your movement speed rises to 60 ft, and you can float over and through things like rough terrain and enemies. You can see as if you’re using darkvision, and any equipment or items you were holding dissipate with you, similar to a druid's Wild Shape ability. You're immune to non-magical attacks, take standard damage from magical ones, and are vulnerable to any wind-based spells or effects. Category:Homebrew Category:Races